1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for the storage of retrievable informational data, which employs removable, data storage media.
In particular, the present invention relates to apparatus whereby the removable, data storage media is automatically protected from environmental damage at all times it is external to the data storage apparatus.
2. The Prior Art
The removable media, employed in data storage files, is well known to suffer from environmental contamination problems. Debris and fingerprints, on the surface of magnetic discs, causes degradation and ultimate destruction of the data storage properties of the discs.
In the case of rigid discs, this problem has been overcome by surrounding the disc with a sealed cartridge, which is opened only when the disc is within the storage file.
In the case of flexible magnetic discs, however, no such solution has appeared. An attempt has been made to protect flexible discs by means of a surrounding jacket, which posesses, of necessity, apertures which allow operational access, to the disc, of magnetic recording heads and disc rotating apparatus. The jacket itself has been lined with cleaning material so that debris and other foreign matter are, to a large extent, cleaned from the surface of the disc as it rotates within its jacket.
The operational access apertures in the flexible disc jacket pose a problem when the disc is external to the data storage file, since foreign matter is free to contaminate the surface of the disc through these openings.
In the past, a storage envelope has been provided so that, when not in use, the flexible disc, in its jacket, may be kept within the storage envelope, which covers the operational access apertures on the jacket, thus providing a degree of environmental protection.
The storage envelope approach is not without disadvantages. It requires that the operator, by hand, inserts the disc into the envelope when it is not required for use. The use of the hand, for insertion or removal of the disc, risks fingerprint contamination. Failure to insert the disc into the envelope risks debris contamination. Further, the operational apertures of the disc jacket are covered only if the disc is inserted into the envelope in the correct attitude.
It is therefore advantageous that the protection of the disc, when it is external to the data storage file, be complete and automatic, so that it is possible neither to touch the disc with the hand nor to omit its proper inclusion in a protective device.
3. Object of the Invention
Accordingly, it is a prime objective of the present invention to provide means whereby the above objectives are achieved.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a protective sleeve and latch mechanism, for use in a data storage file, employing removable media, whereby the operator has neither physical contact with the disc nor control over its insertion or non-insertion into protective covering.